Office parties can be the stuff of nightmares. And at this time of year, with nights drawing in and Santa hats littering the shelves at Woolworths, there's little refuge for the average office worker from the Christmas party merry-go-round.

For couples cosily paired off, the potential trauma of the party season is at least diluted: if all else fails, at least the two of you have each other for company all night. Plus you've managed to ward off Adrian from payroll just by virtue of your partner's presence.

But for the growing army of singletons, the question of how to handle those "guest plus one" party invites can loom large at this time of year. Take Amanda Jacobs, single and a journalist from south London. Faced with a "plus one" invitation to a corporate Christmas bash, Jacobs approached the hosts - a well-known manufacturer - to ask if she could bring a friend along for the evening.

The response was far from expected: yes, came the reply, but only if the companion were male, as this was likely to be a very "couply" event. Taken aback, she asked if they would let her bring a female friend. The answer was no - but, staggeringly, the company offered to provide her with a male companion for the evening.

"I was gobsmacked," she says. "I don't feel comfortable asking any of my male friends to this kind of event, and anyway, it wouldn't be half as much fun as going with a female friend. And what if I was a lesbian? I feel the company wanted to keep up appearances by inviting only opposite-sex couples, but this sort of attitude is completely out of date."

Although an extreme example, this is only one sticky situation that single men and women can find themselves in as the party season gets going. Many, like Carrie Dunn, a London-based freelancer, simply choose to forgo the whole ordeal.

"Being a confirmed miserablist, I don't bother going to Christmas parties where everyone else is coupled up," says Dunn. "I am sick and tired of being invited to places with a 'plus one', when people know perfectly well that I don't have 'one'.

"Then I have to invite a friend along with me and everyone knows it's not a real 'plus one' and looks at me pityingly. Alternatively, I can go by myself, and be seen as the predatory single woman."

A no-partners policy might make her change her mind - but even this has its problems. "In these cases, you have the added horror of coping with drunken, middle-aged men who think they have carte blanche to grab your backside because their wives aren't there. I like being single, and I'm very happy as I am, but I do hate the social pressure there is on everyone to fit into certain categories."

Christine Webber, a psychotherapist and life coach, says the opting-out approach is common among singles. Although often viewed as a once-a-year chance to eat and drink at an employer's expense, Christmas parties can be stressful, she says, and many people face the dilemma of whether or not to go.

Webber adds that, even where it is permitted to take a friend of the same sex, this is not without its complications. "Will the friend take the opportunity to get absolutely smashed? Is the risk worth the opportunity for companionship? Maybe the solution for women is to take a gay friend, but even this might be tricky in a macho male, corporate environment."

Karen Hanley-Browne, director of recruitment consultancy Resourceful-people, says a company-wide no-partners policy is often the safest approach for all concerned. "It makes life easy for everyone if partners aren't involved: no pressure on either the staff or their partners for 'forced' socialising. As far as our own company's events are concerned, if people want to introduce partners informally, that's fine, regardless of their sex or orientation."

But for anyone still single and fretting about office party survival tactics this Christmas, Webber suggests a partner-free strategy. "Go on your own and circulate wildly," she says. "But don't, on any account, have more than two drinks, and make sure you disappear early. People will note you've made an effort to come along and with any luck you'll be remembered as the life and soul of the party." Who knows? You might even enjoy it.